I Set Fire to the Rain
by Damonlove1864
Summary: Stefan is gone, how do Elena and Damon cope. What if Stefan comes back? I set fire to the rain, watched it pour as I touched your face...


**Author's Note:** This is my first attempt at this type of story with the song lyrics and I hope you all like it.

_I let it fall, my heart_

_And as it fell, you rose to claim it_

_It was dark and I was over_

_Until you kissed my lips and you saved me_

Damon starred at Elena as she sat facing him on the couch. Never had he seen her so broken. She finally looked up her eyes filled with so much pain. One look and he was next to her holding her as she finally broke down and cried. Sobs shook her tiny frame. She cried until she finally slept. He carried her up to a spare bedroom, loathed to lay her in **HIS** room. Laying her down, he retreated to the doorway watching as she curled herself into a small ball, her face full of pain even as she slept.

Days went by and she walked through the huge empty house like a ghost. He would often find her sitting in **HIS** room in the dark and nothing he could say would get her to stand up and leave. She would flinch when he turned on any lights so he soon took to living in the darkness too. He couldn't take it anymore, he needed her to feel something, express something, anything. All she did night after night was sit in **HIS** room and stare out the window at the night. She would gravitate to the living room if he had lit the fire. He took to doing it every night just so she would leave **HIS** room. Damon sat starring at her as she looked into the fire. When he sat down next to her she moved slightly so she was leaning against his body like she had taken to doing ever since he started to light the fires. He looked down at her and gently raised her head so he could see her eyes. What he say broke his already fragile heart. There was nothing there but pain, it was dull over powered by the emptiness that now lived inside her. His crystal blue eyes filled with pain, sparkling with tears only she would ever be allowed to see him shed. "Elena, please, you need to stop this. Please…" His voice and eyes pleading with her. "Please move on. Come back! You are starting to scare me and that isn't an easy thing to do!" He said trying to at least get a laugh or a smart remark from her. She didn't respond she just continued to stare at him her chin resting on his fingers. Desperate for any sign she was still there he leaned forward and captured her lips. He didn't care if she slapped him, in fact it would have made him happy, because it would mean she was feeling again. She dint' respond for a few seconds and he was just about to give up when her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him back. Clinging to him like he was her life preserver, pulling her from the darkness she was drowning in. He could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks and he knew, she wasn't ready for this, for him, for the attraction that ran between them like an invisible tether. But at least she wasn't a shell anymore.

She got better as the days went by. She stopped watching the news, stopped listening for mysterious deaths that she knew where being caused by her beloved and the monster that held him prisoner. Months went by. They never spoke of the kiss they shared. He had saved her by that action just like he always had, always would. He understood. But she gave him small smiles, rare glimpses of the old Elena, the fun Elena shinning through the new, serious one. He knew this was her thanks to him, thanks she never had to give, but always did.

Then one day their world turned upside down. They were sitting in the living room, Elena working on school work and he drinking as per usual. She stayed at the boarding house more now, it was safer for her. The front door opened and closed, the footsteps stopped at the entrance to the living room. They looked up and Elena gasped. Standing quickly she stepped around the couch and froze, unsure if this was real or just another dream. Damon spoke "Hello Brother." Stefan smiled and inclined his head before he turned his attention back to Elena who now had tears falling from her eyes. She still hadn't moved from where she stood. He opened his arms and took a step forward. That was all it took for Elena to throw herself at him. He caught her as she collapsed against him, tilting her head up for his kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck. He kissed her and held her. Damon watched the stony mask firmly in place, the walls going up around his breaking heart.

_My hands, they're strong_

_But my knees were far too weak_

_To stand in your arms_

_Without falling to you feet_

The kiss broke and she looked at him the unspoken question in her eyes. He looked up to his brother seeing the same question he said quietly while looking at her and stroking her hair. "He said he didn't need me anymore. Told me to get lost or he would kill me." Elena laughed and smiled as she reached up to kiss him again. Damon quietly slipped out the back into the sanctuary of the darkness where he seemed to be destined to always live.

Weeks passed but something wasn't quite right. Elena could feel it but she was so happy to have Stefan back. So happy to have her life return to normal. Sure Stefan was a little different but after what he had been through she didn't blame him. As the days went on he returned more and more to his old self but still that nagging voice in her head said there was something she was missing.

_But there is a side to you that I never knew, never knew_

_All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true_

_And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win_

Then the reports of the missing people and the animal attacks in surrounding towns reached them and they all knew. He was different. There was a reason Klaus didn't need him, he had achieved his goal. He had broken him, he had killed him.

There was only one way Damon said. His face cold as he looked at their small group. But Elena knew he was dying on the inside just like her. But this monster wasn't Stefan. Stefan was already dead.

_I set fire to the rain_

_Watched it pour as I touched your face_

_Let it burn while I cry_

_Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name_

She sat with Stefan in his room. Relishing in the moment of serenity. He was playing with a strand of her hair while she told him about her day. She mentioned the old waterfall and small pond they used to visit before all of the violence. He said they should go back, back to remember. She agreed saying they should go tomorrow night, the moon would make to waterfall so pretty.

_When laying with you_

_I could stay there, close my eyes_

_Feel you here, forever_

_You and me together, nothing better_

They stood on the cliff watching the water tumble off the edge into the small pool at the bottom. She held him close kissing him with all her love, then whispering all she knew. He pulled back surprise etched in his face then he grinned evilly glad the ruse was up. He tried to pull her back to him to make her his, but he fell to the ground with a gasp clutching his head. Elena kissed his forehead whispered goodbye and then pushed him, tears falling down her face the whole time. But at the last second he reached out and grabbed her foot.

_I set fire to the rain_

_And I threw us into the flames_

_Where I felt somethin' die cause I knew that_

_That was the last time, the last time_

Elena looked up to see Damon holding onto her arm. She looked down at the burning water, Bonnie standing on the edge of the small pond. Then back up to Damon's face so much pain in her eyes. He shook his head. "No Elena…" She just shook her head and looked back down. "I can't lose you, please Elena!" Damon cried. Her eyes snapped back up to his and with no effort he pulled her up and into his arms.

_Sometimes I wake up by the door_

_Now that you've gone, must be waiting for you_

_Even now when it's already over_

_I can't help myself from looking for you_

She sat in the living room looking at the picture of **HIM** hanging on the wall. The smiling face captured forever on a small sheet of paper. She thinks and reflects on the life she had lived, on how **HE** had been a part of it. She realized sitting there who she needed, who she had always needed. Yes she felt the loss, she always would, but she found the hole in her heart smaller than she thought.

She heard the door open and she smiled standing and running over to an astonished Damon. Nearly knocking him over as she collided into his hard chest. His arms wrapped around her instinctively. She looked up into the face of the man who had saved her countless times and smiled. He searched her face before returning her smile, once he realized the conclusion she had come to. He understood without words, she was ready, she saw him. Elena stretched up and kissed him. She saved him from the darkness he was drowning in.

_I let it fall, my heart_

_And as it fell, you rose to claim it_

_It was dark and I was over_

_Until you kissed my lips and you saved me_

**Author's Note:** Well there it is. I hope you all enjoyed. Reviews are welcome

ADELE owns the lyrics not me lol. And the characters belong to Vampire Diaries.


End file.
